Shannon Mastromonico, Two Poems

Tiny Flower

I woke up this morningneeding to feel the wind on my skinneeding an ocean to dive in.Feeling like the life I’ve lived is a sin,a crime against myself. The timeI use up, minutes to hoursturned into years full of fear,trying so hard to steerTo go down one path, walking so fast,blinders onsinging some stupid song.I kept coming back here,Face to face with an option to riseTo shrug off this accidental disguiseand guide myselfslowly, gently.Following the moon anddrawing love TO me.I won’t chase things that aren’t meant to be.I am finally comfortable with being who I am, withTaking a stand.My voice is pureno more back up singersno more hate bringers.I have this tiny flower inside megrowing, every breath I takeI feel it tilt and shake.But my earthquakes can’t break itminiature vines curling and unfurling,winding around the delicate parts of me.Setting my soul free

Shannon Mastromonico is married with one fur baby named Calliope. She has been writing poetry since her preteen years, but it was mostly angsty and full of thesaurus words. One of her biggest dreams, as she approached young adulthood, was to publish a book of her own poetry. One day recently, a light bulb appeared above Shannon's head and she wondered why she had this dream if she never ever tried. So she picked up her pen and put it to paper, writing some new and very different poetry. Her style and process both changed completely, as she gave up on perfectionism and made way for evolution. She now runs a blog, podcast and etsy shop, just for the sheer creative joy of it. She still has that dream of publishing her own poetry.